Boxing glove



March 29 1927.

D. J. KENN EDY Boxme GLOVE Filed Aug. 25. 1926 Z SheetS-Sheet 1 .Dwu'clfiner/Mum 1,622,322 D. J. KENNEDY BOXING GLOVE March 29 1927.

Filed Aug. 23, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 fitter/Mega Patented Mar. 29, 1927.

UITED STATES 1,622,322 PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL J. KENNEDY, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

BOXING GLOVE.

Application filed August 2 3, 1926.

The objects of this invention are so to construct a pneumatic boxingglove that the thumb will be prevented from splitting oil the body ofthe glove and ruining the pneumatic cushion qualities of the article; toprovide novel means whereby the glove, when inflated will tend to assumea curve longi tudinally of the hand of the boxer; to provide novel meansfor reinforcing the main in cushion of the glove and for distributingthe air in it; and, generally, to improve and enhance the utility ofdevices of that type to which the invention appertains.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the COEL bination andarrangen'ient of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows in perspective, a boxing glove constructed in accordancewith the invention, parts being broken away;

Figure 2 is a section through the cushion;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 33 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through the glove, parts being inelevation;

Figure 5 is a plan of the cushions.

The glove embodies a flexible casing, made of leather or any othersuitable substance, and including a wrist 2, a body 1, and a thumb 3.Figure 4 shows that the body portion of the glove is made up of an innerlayer 4, an outer layer 5 and an intermediate layer 6, connected to forma space 7 for the boxers hand, between the layers 1 and 6, and acompartment 8 between the layer 6 and the layer 5, the thumb 3 communicating with both the compartment 8 and the space 7.

The glove embodies a main pneumatic pad or cushion 9, in the form of abag, including an outer wall 10 and an inner wall 11. The inner wall 11preferably is made of fabricated rubber and has flexibility, butpractically no capacity for stretching, The outer wall of the pad 9 ismade of gum rubber, or the like, and has both flexibility and capacityfor expansion. The main pad or cushion 9 is located in the compartment8. The thumb 3 of the casing communicates both with the Serial No.131,032.

space 7 and with the compartment 8 andin along their longitudinal edgesto the walls 10 and 11 of the part 9 but spaced at their ends from thepad or cushion 9, so that air may circulate freely through the cushionor pad 9. The reinforcements 12 prevent the air from bulging the gloveat any one particular point and cause the pad or cushion 9 to assume,when inflated, the uniformly inflated appearance of Figure 1. Becausethe layer 11 of the cushion 9 cannotstretch, and because the layer 10can stretch and expand, the glove, when inflated, will assume the curvedposition shown in Figure 4. If desired, and as an additional means forsecuring the curvature of the glove, the end of the cushion 9 may beturned inwardlyas at 14, a flexible but inelastic strip 15 beingconnected at its ends to the part 14 and to the wall 11 of the cushion9. Air may be forced into the parts 9 and 17 of the pneumatic padding,through a tube 16 connected to the wall 10 of the cushion 9 and locatedin the wrist '2 or elsewhere.

One of the main difiiculties with pneumatic boxing gloves having aninflatable thumb, is that, heretofore, the thumb cushions or air bagshave been connected to the main portions of the air bags in such a Waythat these parts have split down and torn apart along a line representedin Figure .5, generally, by the line A-B. In the present embodimentofthe invention, the thumb cushion 17 is connected to the main cushion 9by the small flexible tube 18, and is practically independent of thepart 9 aside from the small and well guarded connection at 18, throughwhich the air passes into the thumb cushion 17. The result is that theglove will stand almost any amount of punishment without tearing thethumb cushion 17 loose from the main cushion 9. When the glove isinflated, the thumb 3 tends to cooperate with the main body 1 of theglove in such a Way as to cover and protect the first knuckle of thehand, meaning thereby the knuckle at the base of the index finger.

What is claimed is 1. A boxing glove comprising a casing and aninflatable cushion in the casing and extended longitudinally of theglove, the inner Wall of the cushion being flexible and inelastic, andthe outer all of the cushion being flexible and expansible, whereby whenthecushion is inflated, the glove Will be given a longitudinalcurvature, the end of the cushion being turned to overlie the inner Wallof the cushion, and a flexible inelastic. connection between said end ofthe cushion and the inner Wall thereof.

'2. A boxing glove including a main cushion, comprising an air chamber,a thumb cushion comprising an air chamber, and means for inflating thechambers, the cush? ions being spaced apart and being joined by aflexible tube of small diameter, the tube forming a communicationbetween the air chambers, the tube being of suflicientlength to permit alarge amount of relative movement between the cushions, and the tubetending to prevent a splitting apart of the cushions along alongitudinal line between them.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, 1 have hereto affixedmy signature.

DANIEL J. KENNEDY.

